From Spencer's Scratchpad

from Spencer's Scratchpad http://www.johntspencer.com/ a regular read of mine. Strange as the article was in my RSS feed but no longer on his site.

Mr. Spencer discusses testing week and what is means. He finishes the post with some great questions....questions I've kind of wondered about myself.

But still, I have questions. Unanswered questions. Rhetorical, perhaps. Yes, I have questions:

• If we say we want differentiated instruction, why does every child take the same test in the same way?
• If we say we want critical thinkers, why are the tests created at the lowest base knowledge level?
• If we say we need multiple intelligences, why are the tests only in one modality?
• If we say it's important that students learn to ask questions, why do they spend the entire time filling out bubbles, answering other people's questions?
• If we say we need students who can make connections between multiple sources, subjects and topics, why are all the test questions separated by subject?
• If we say that students need to articulate an answer in their own words, why are the tests based upon recall instead of synthesis of knowledge?
• If we say we want creativity, why aren't students actually creating anything? Why aren't they developing solutions and actually solving problems?
• If we say we want students who can collaborate, why do they test in isolation? And why are we creating a system where

Yeah, I have questions. Not just about the test, but about a nation that holds eighth graders accountable for meaningless facts while the Wall Street execs who bankrupt our economy got off with a golden parachute.